Travel north of Durango by any route may be tricky the next few days as a major snowstorm that arrived overnight Wednesday is forecast to drop a lot of snow in the high country.
Forecasters with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center predict U.S. Highway 550 going north, including Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain passes, may receive as much as 21 inches of snow by this evening.
Crews with the Colorado Department of Transportation went on 12-hour shifts starting at midnight Wednesday and plan to continue 24 hours a day until the storm passes, which is predicted to happen sometime during the weekend, CDOT said in a news release Wednesday.
Red Mountain Pass remains closed for mitigation after a major rockslide that took place 2½ weeks ago. Crews managed to install more rockfall nets Wednesday, bringing the total to 36 on the steep slopes, and they hastened to fasten them together before the storm hit.
“They also were able to do a tremendous amount of scaling around the nets once they were installed,” CDOT spokeswoman Nancy Shanks said. “They brought down some really big boulders.”
Today, crews will bring in 600 feet of concrete barrier to serve as a base for rockfall netting. They plan to install a 24-foot-high and 400-foot-wide fence on top of the concrete barriers near the center line so they can open one lane of traffic.
“The rocks they’re finding in the morning tend to be in that inside lane,” Shanks said. “They’re trying to reduce the risk to the best of their abilities.”
Much of what happens now hinges on snowfall.
“These crew members are no strangers to working in snow,” she said. “But (today) will be very telling, with the colder weather and snow, and we may be able to give an estimate at that time about when we can open the lane.”
The alternate route for travelers headed north is through Mancos, Dolores and over Lizard Head Pass to Ridgway. Forecasters predicted Lizard Head may receive as much as a foot of snow by this evening and 3 feet of snow by late Friday.
The Avalanche Center also said the risk of avalanches will be high by Friday, and elevated risk will continue through the weekend, so passes may be closed for avalanche mitigation, particularly in the mornings. Drivers should also beware of high winds, which can limit visibility.
Going east may not be much easier. Wolf Creek, Monarch and Cumbres/La Manga passes are all predicted to receive 16 inches of snow by this evening and 3 feet by Friday night.
Before heading out, drivers should check road conditions at www.cotrip.org or request text updates by logging on to www.coloradodot.org and clicking the green cellphone icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
The National Weather Service increased the possibility of precipitation for Durango proper today through Friday from 50 to 70 percent, making the chance of receiving snow for Snowdown more likely. Meteorologists also predicted a cold front will come through this evening, with a high Friday around 40 degrees, and a low of 14 degrees Friday night.
abutler@durangoherald.com
